Hurt Locker Scores Hat Trick With National Society of Film Critics

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America's leading film critics picked up this year where they left off in 2009, awarding The Hurt Locker its Best Picture, Director and Actor prizes during voting Sunday. The rest of the winners might sound slightly familiar as well, though a few modest surprises sneaked into place as the society's convoluted voting procedure yielded Best Actress winner Yolande Moreau of Seraphine and a tie between Supporting Actor recipients Christoph Waltz (Inglourious Basterds) and Paul Schneider (Bright Star). Not that anyone here is complaining; take any surprises you can get during the awards slog. Read on for the full list of winners.

Not for nothing, by "convoluted" I basically mean that the NSFC voting consists of multiple ballots. Which isn't unusual on its face, though when proxy voters are forced to drop out after the first ballot -- thus leaving the final outcome to those members actually in attendance st Sardi's in New York City -- it kind of dramatically changes the voting dynamic. Tom O'Neil offered a useful breakdown of the process that unfolded this year, which involved Abbie Cornish usurping Carey Mulligan's points and wrecking Meryl Streep's lead in the second round, as well as Jeremy Renner pulling away from Jeff Bridges in late voting. Congrats to all, I guess.

Best Picture: The Hurt Locker

Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker

Best Actor: Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker

Best Actress: Yolande Moreau, Seraphine

Best Supporting Actor: [TIE] Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds, and Paul Schneider, Bright Star

Best Supporting Actress: Mo'Nique, Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire

Best Screenplay: Joel and Ethan Coen, A Serious Man

Best Foreign-Language Film: Summer Hours

Best Non-fiction Film: The Beaches of Agnes

Best Cinematography: Christian Berger, The White Ribbon

Best Production Design: Nelson Lowry, The Fantastic Mr. Fox